


Selected Logs of the MX201 Expedition

by Wildcard



Category: Tennis no Oujisama | Prince of Tennis
Genre: Aliens, Cats, M/M, Sci-Fi AU, Xenophilia, cat people - Freeform, don't fuck aliens, not bestiality
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-03-31
Updated: 2017-03-31
Packaged: 2018-10-13 09:36:38
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,365
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10511103
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Wildcard/pseuds/Wildcard
Summary: Aliens are strange, strange creatures. The humans that land on MX201 puzzle the natives greatly but they attempt to reach out in the name of peace and friendship.Sadly, the humans are too dense to understand that and direct action is required.Things go horribly, comically wrong.





	

**Author's Note:**

  * For [nobetterpicture](https://archiveofourown.org/users/nobetterpicture/gifts).



> This fic contains sex between sentient giant cats and humans. It's not explicit, but it's there. PLEASE bear that in mind before continuing further.

_On the 500th anniversary of Felineas joining the Federation, a selected collection of logs from the original MX201 expedition have been unsealed for the public and hosted in the Galactic Federation Museum. These logs present a linear timeline of the original meetings between the Felineas . and Homo sapiens sapiens and each species' gradual realization that the other species was sentient.  
  
For the convenience of the viewers, the logs have been translated into Galactic Standard. Wherever possible, the original meanings of the slang of the day has been retained. _

The Felineas records with their side of the story are available in the next corridor.

 

* * *

 

 

 

> ******Vice Captain Oishi Shuuichiro’s Log:** **  
> ** **  
> ** **Day 594:**

  
Safely landed on MX201 or Arcadia as the planet is informally known. The Earth-like atmosphere contains a slightly higher concentration of oxygen than unusual and the gravity is a little lower, leading to members of the crew growing light-headed and giddy. Momo has been bouncing around every chance he gets while Captain Tezuka is busy instructing the others on setting up the base camp. Captain Tezuka insists we don’t let our guards down but it’s difficult to see any threat in this giant greenhouse.  
  
Sprits are high. The team is excited by the prospect of exploring the planet. Inui has been taking down notes and has so many data-gathering instruments attached to his person that he bristles like the old pictures of hedgehogs. Yanagi is just as excited though less likely to kill us all by making eat local plants.  
  
A note: Inui’s drinks are poisonous! I believe him when he says he tests the flora carefully. But the _taste_.

His drinks are worse than having to spend a year and a half in suspended animation while the ship flew us here.  


 

> **Day 601:**

  
The planet is as hospitable as early surveys promised. We haven’t met any large predators yet, only insectivores and herbivores. Inui and Yanagi have taken DNA samples from every new species and replicated them for study after releasing the originals. Protocol says dissecting native species is discouraged but the scientists insist that they have to study them from the inside so the compromise is they use the replicator to make clones of the species.  
  
Of course, this only applies to non-sentient species. Cloning sentients is strictly forbidden.  
  
Taka’s been studying the local streams and rivers. They have so much fish that he says he could reach down with his hands and catch dinner. We aren’t allowed to eat the local flora and fauna, though, and I’ve told him that includes fish. Just because it looks like parallel evolution doesn’t mean that the fish would be safe for human consumption.

He spent all of last night telling us about his father’s sushi place and how proud his family was that he’d been selected for the Arcadia mission. Nobody asks about the ages of the people left behind – a twenty-year mission means too many of us will have our parents die during our absence.

We knew that was a likely outcome when we signed up for this mission. The letters from home, time-delayed though they are, help us feel connected to those we left behind and we are a strong, closely-bonded team in our own right.

 

 

> **Security Chief Momoshiro Takeshi’s Log:** **  
> ** **  
> ** **Day 605:** **  
> ** ****

**  
** Finally found a threat to the camp! It’s been a dull ten days for me, just escorting everyone around while they poke at fish and insect-eaters and little fat furry animals that are about as dangerous as a dandelion head. Most dangerous thing we’ve had to deal with is Inui’s juices and I’m not paid enough to deal with those.  
  
Today was different. Inui was taking samples of the dirt from under a tree and I was just looking around to see where Yanagi was when I spotted a new shape-shadow. It was big, easily as tall as I am, but down on all fours. Its head was round, it was covered in black fur and its pupils were slit against yellow eyes. It bared its sharp, triangular teeth at me, front half going down low, back half staying high, and _hissed_ .  
  
It was the first species on the planet to try to threaten us. **  
**  
I didn’t waste time wondering what it was. I grabbed Inui by the arm and jerked him back, then shot my stungun at the creature. I didn’t know if it would be enough so I told Inui to run and hit the alert beacon on my wrist communicator so Yanagi would know he had to get back to camp too.  
  
We ran through the jungle (Inui was trying to ask questions while running, I told him to save his breath) and made it back to the camp safely. Yanagi was there before us.  
  
The two of them made me draw the creature and then questioned me until I told them that if they didn’t shut up, I’d go back and feed them to the creature.

Inui says that it sounds like an old Earth creature called a feline, except too big. He says even at their biggest, the old Earth felines only came up to our waist on all fours.  
  
Captain Tezuka says we all have to carry stun guns set to at least a medium charge now. Anything that big will need a good dose to knock it out.  
  


 

> **Bioscientist Sadaharo Inui’s Log:** **  
> ** **  
> ** **Day 608:**

  
We have spent the last 3 days searching for the species that was described to us by Momo. I have my doubts as to the accuracy of the description concerning the creature’s size and have shared those doubts with Yanagi. It is entirely possible that fright caused Momo to overestimate the size of the creature.  
  
The description of the triangular teeth is especially interesting to me. Such a development is more common to marine predators on Earth. Sharks were known for them. Terrestrial predators, such as felines, had sharp canine teeth as well as flattened teeth with which to chew and soften meat. Triangular teeth would indicate they rend flesh from their prey and swallow without chewing, or possibly even swallow their prey whole.  
  
Despite repeated questioning, Momo remains adamant that all of the teeth were triangular. I am certain this must be the apex predator of the planet. Yanagi agrees with my assessment and is equally committed to the hunt for these beasts.

 

 

> **Vice Captain Oishi’s Log:** **  
> ** **  
> ** **Day 632:  
>  **

  
It’s been over a month since Momo’s sighting and nobody’s found any ‘spoor’, footprints, excrement or half-eaten prey. No signs at all of any predators in the jungle. Inui and Yanagi started talking about inactive minds and lack of stimulation causing hallucinations. Momo nearly punched them.  
  
Captain Tezuka’s telling us to still be on our guard even though everyone’s wondering why we haven’t seen them yet.

 

 

> **Day 633:  
>  **

  
I saw one today.

We all did.

Inui and Yanagi were dissecting some little herbivore they’d replicated and the wind must’ve blown the scent downwind. That’s what they say made the creature come so close to camp.  
  
It was a reddish brown, not all black like the one Momo saw, and it was smaller. Chest high, maybe. It had big brown eyes and a mouthful of sharp teeth.  
  
We were behind the forcefield shield so nobody was worried but Captain Tezuka had us all grab our guns just in case though it didn’t seem like it was hunting. It walked right up to our camp, sniffing the air, and paused just outside the wall. The shield’s invisible but I swear it knew where it was. Maybe the forcefield has a particular smell (or it’s sensitive to electricity, like some eels Yanagi told us about when the creature was gone).

It sat down on its back legs and watched us. When it yawned, all the sharp triangle teeth were on display but it didn’t seem like a threat. It just seemed bored.

Inui had to be held back from going outside the shield to get a DNA sample. After a month of searching with no results, he was desperate.  
  
Yanagi told him he’d learn nothing new from inside the creature’s stomach and that it was too close to the wall for Inui to guarantee a shot. We could take the shield down to shoot but the creature might be able to jump one of us before it was hit. Our best chance was to shoot it while it left.  
  
It didn’t leave.  


> **Security Chief Momoshiro’s Log:** **  
> ** **  
> ** **Day 633:**

  
I TOLD THEM I HADN’T IMAGINED IT.  


> **Vice Captain Oishi’s Log:**  
>    
>  **Day 635:  
>  **

  
It’s still there. This morning, it bounced around. It twisted and leapt and did some sort of semi-aerial ballet before sitting down again.  
  
I started clapping before I realized it. Captain Tezuka’s look made me stop but Shinji laughed before he went back to talking to himself.  
  
The feline doesn’t like to sit still for long. Whenever it bursts into motion, Momo tracks it with his gun like he thinks the feline is going to break through the shield. It moves so fast, though. I don’t think he’d be able to shoot it.  
  
I don’t want him to. It hasn’t hurt us. It just watches us, like we’re a new and exciting play.  
  
Inui and Yanagi watch it back but everyone else is going back to life as normal.  
 

> **Day 636:  
>  **

  
It has a friend. This new one must be the one Momo saw. It’s big, black, and has yellow eyes. It prowled around the perimeter of our camp, sniffing the whole way, then hissed in what sounded like disdain before it walked back to Red (as I’m calling him) and nudged him with its nose.  
  
I don’t know the first one was male and we’ve been warned against anthromorphizing alien beasts. I shouldn’t call Red ‘him’ or name him but as long as it’s only in my head – and this log – I suppose it’s not an issue.  
  
Red went off with Momo’s cat. With two of them and Red being so acrobatic, we were hesitant to shoot so they got away.

 

> **Bioscientist Sadaharo Inui’s Log:** **  
> ** **  
> ** **Day 636:**

  
I am determined to find those felines in their natural habitat. Over the past three days, I have collected excellent data with my biorecorder and through my own visual observations. In summary:

  * Their build is almost identical to _Panthera onca_ , once commonly known as jaguar. This suggests they are capable of climbing trees and swimming.
  * All their teeth are triangular.
  * During the three days that it watched us, it did not leave even once to eat, indicating either a slow metabolism or the ability to wait a large time between meals.
  * They are highly agile and quick, judging from its frequent acrobatics.
  * They do not like to lie still for long periods of time, suggesting they are chase or stalk predators rather than ambush predators.
  * Their coloration can range from red-brown to black, as evidenced by the second creature. Eye color can range from yellow to brown.
  * They possess sharp, retractable claws.
  * It could either smell, see or somehow sense the shield and knew better than to try to cross it. If there is an equivalent to electric eels on this planet, perhaps that’s where they encountered the charged electron buzz.
  * They are either pack creatures or solitary but social. The first creature did not respond adversely to the second and left with it.
  * If it truly is a case of parallel development, then the presence of visible testes indicate they are both male.



 

> **Security Chief Momoshiro’s Log:** **  
> ** **  
> ** **Day 637:  
>  **

  
Now they know it’s real, Inui and Yanagi are even more desperate to find it. Both of them apologized for implying I was crazy and we’re going to check the place I first saw the black one again.  
  
Kamio’s our fastest scout so he’s coming with me. Shinji’s staying behind to guard the camp because his muttering to himself would warn the creatures that we’re coming.

Since the red one showed up while that little furry thing was being gutted, Yanagi replicated more of them to carry with us. The plan is to gut them, plant them as bait and then observe from a safe distance away.

This does not sound like a good plan to me.  
  
Captain Tezuka says we shouldn’t let our guard down and I won’t. Don’t know if that’ll be enough to keep those smart idiots safe.

 

> **Bioscientist Sadaharo Inui’s Log:** **  
> ** **  
> ** **Day 636:  
>  **

  
Our data was flawed.  
  
I take all responsibility.

 

> **Vice Captain Oishi’s Log:**  
>    
>  **Day 637:  
>  **

  
The search party for Momo was unsuccessful. Inui and Yanagi are guilt-stricken but Captain Tezuka’s taking it the worst. He’s never lost a man before.  
  
Neither have I.

The recordings aren’t helpful. The creature came up on them from behind – there were four of them, they should’ve formed a quadrant but the scientists had their recorders fixed on the bait – and grabbed Momo. He discharged his gun but must’ve missed because when Inui jerked around, his recorder caught Momo being carried up into the trees by the black creature.  
  
The immediate search party that went out found nothing. I’ve drawn up a roster of rotating search parties so that there’ll always be someone out there looking for Momo.  
  
I didn’t think the creatures were hostile. Red had seemed friendly. I should’ve remembered they were predators, that he was probably observing us to figure out how to hunt us.  
  
I underestimated them and now Momo’s gone.  

 

> **Security Chief Momoshiro’s Log:** **  
> ** **  
> ** **Day 637:**

  
‘- king? Is this working? Fuck. The communicator’s not working. If this isn’t working—

The light’s on. That’s got to mean it’s working. I hope. This is my only chance. Even if they eat me, the recorder’ll pass through intact.  
  
Mom, Dad, I’m sorry. I know you were scared something would go wrong. Still have the goodluck charm you gave me. Tucked it away in my pocket. They told us to bring as little personal stuff as possible to keep the weight down but I didn’t think a piece of paper with a ribbon would weigh too much.  
  
Captain, don’t let them hear the rest of this. If they eat me while I’m alive and I scream, don’t fucking let anyone hear it. I want them to think I died brave.  
  
Report. Right. I should – I should make this a proper report.  
  
We were ambushed while staking out giant cats. Or Felindae Arcadium as Inui calls it. Stupid Inui. This is his fault and Yanagi’s for breaking formation.  
  
Anyway. We were there. Waiting. Then suddenly something grabs the back of my jacket and jumps up. I try to shoot over my shoulder, miss. I get one look at Inui and Yanagi staring up at me and then everything’s black.  
  
There’s blood on the back of my head. I think it must’ve been knocked against a branch or something.  
  
Woke up here. Here is a tree. A wet tree. It’s been raining for the last – for a long while. Inui said jaguars used to kill their prey and drag them up trees to save for later. But I’m not dead. And the thing knows it. It’s seated on the branch and staring at me.  
  
My gun’s gone. I don’t have a chance against those teeth and claws without it. And we’re so high up that if I try to fight and fall, I’ll break enough bones to make any chance of escape impossible.  
  
I don’t know what it wants. It keeps sniffing me. First time it did that, I thought it was gonna bite down and that was it, I’d get my throat torn out by an alien species and die up a fucking tree. It doesn’t bite. Just smells me. Pushes its giant head against my throat and rubs its cheek against mine while making this weird sound. It’s like something rough rubbing against something else rough, but quiet. Like a long, rolled R. It makes the creature’s whole body vibrate.  
  
I don’t want to fall asleep in case it takes it as a sign of weakness and decides to eat me but I can’t stay awake much longer.  
  
Head wounds bleed a lot. Tired.  
  
\--- no! I won’t fall asleep! I won’t! I’ll fucking face my death like a man!  
  
Won’t. Won’t fall asleep. Won’t…”

 

> **Day 639:** **  
> ** ****

**  
** “Fuck. I have to get back to camp. I have to tell Inui and Yanagi they’re wrong, these felines aren’t beasts, they’re _sentient_. This isn’t an inhabitable planet, it’s already taken. The Fed’s gotta cancel its colonization plans.

Least, I think they’re sentient. I can’t remember the full fucking tests and checkpoints you’re supposed to go through to qualify a species as sentient. That shit is Inui’s job, not mine.

But from what I remember, what I can fucking see right around me, they qualify. I’m not doing this right, I have to present it formally or something. Fuck. Okay.  
_  
_ _Point One:_  They have medicine. I woke up with leaves slathered in some sort of sticky paste stuck to the back of my head. It wasn’t an accident either. When I tried to peel it off, the black feline growled at me and hit my arm with a paw. His claws weren’t out so it didn’t scratch me but it was strong enough to knock my arm down.  
  
_Point Two:_ Their medicine works. My head hurts less.  
  
_Point Three:_ They have a district. Or something like it. I’m on this sort of … flat hammock. It’s made of vines stretched tightly from branch to branch and knotted into place. Over it, there’s a lot of soft fluffy stuff that I’ve seen on the tops of giant head-sized flowers. When they walk, the stuff gets pressed down over the vines and into the gaps so it’s a firm surface. Over us, there are giant leaves tied into place in a sort of dome. The water goes over them and drips down the leaf tips to the ground so we don’t get soaked.  
  
Most of the nearby trees have something like that. And felines sleep there or watch me. They’re tree-dwelling.  
  
Inui said that because of parallel evolution, it should be the apes that evolved into humanoids and we should look for those. I think he’s wrong. Apes used to live in trees, right? But so do the felines. So maybe the felines outhunted the apes and that’s why we haven’t seen any humanoids. Felines are the dominant sentient species here.

Gotta keep arguing it. Inui could say that living in a group and having medicine doesn’t mean they’re sentient. Alright.  
  
_Point… Four?_ Fuck. I lost count. Okay, whatever. Point whatever. They have a language. It’s hard to tell at first because a lot of it is physical. They flick their tails and twitch their ears and change their body position. It’s like the sign language that the Dartaseans use, except with their whole body. It doesn’t have much sound in it, which is probably why we had so much trouble finding them before. When they talk, they don’t make noise. But they are talking. Arguing, even. Black feline is arguing with other felines. I think it’s over keeping me. He stands in front of me with his butt to me and hisses at the others. They don’t fight, they just keep moving and talking. I swear it’s fucking talking, even if it doesn’t have any sound.

_Point Five._ I think. They write stuff down. The proof’s around my neck. Black cat padded up to me this morning with a piece of vine in his jaws that he dropped over my head. It’s a necklace. Not a complicated necklace by our standards, just some vines twisted together, but it’s got a pendant. Tag. There’s a leaf hanging from it, big and red and round, and some slashes drawn on the leaf. The slashes stand out like streaks of mud but it’s all coated under something that makes it slippery and waterproof.  
  
I know it’s not just accidental slashes because he pointed at it with a paw, then put his paw against me and made a noise. He did that a few times before I realized what he wanted. I made the noise back, then pointed at myself. Guess that’s my new name. Then he did this thing, sort of exhaling and snorting at the same time, and pushed his cheek against mine.  
  
I’ve figured out by now that it means he’s pleased when he does that. It’s the same thing he did when I ate the dead rodents he brought me and when I drank the rainwater that gets collected from the roof’s run-offs. They have these big cupped leaves on the lower branches that they use as bowls and jugs both. There’s a brown one that’s meant for me to shit and piss in that he keeps taking away and emptying somewhere else. Sanitation. Yeah. That’s more proof of sentience, isn’t it?  
  
_Point Something._ They understand the concept of keeping pets. What else could I be?  
  
_Point Something More._ They play games. They have this one game where they hit a ball at each other over a net with their paws.  
_  
__Point whatever, I’ve lost track._ They have art. At least, singing counts as art, right? They’re quiet most of the time but when both moons are high in the sky, they take turns singing. One of them gets up on this big rock and howls - screeches- makes some awful noises that the rest of the felines listen to. When the first one’s done, he gets off the rock and the next climbs on. Sometimes the audience screams along to some parts.  
  
Must sound a lot better to them than me. I can’t sleep when they’re doing that. Most of them sleep during the day though so nobody cares I sleep then too.  
  
Wonder if base camp has given me up for dead yet. If they’ve sent the news back home. Mom’d cry her eyes dry and dad would do that thing where he pats her back while looking at the sky.”

 

> **Day 640:**

  
“They understand compassion. Or pity. He licked the tears off my face.  
  
Maybe he just likes the taste of salt.”

 

> **Day 641:**

  
“Got cold last night. Black cat lay down over me. He smelled funny at worst but he was warm and made this sort of rumbling sound in his chest until I fell asleep. Must’ve been a lullaby.”

 

> **Day 651:  
>  **

  
“Haven’t been logging. Shit. Been too busy with the kittens. They still make these little mewling noises so I tried making the noises back at them. We’ve come up with a sort of language now. I can’t do the tail flicks and ear bends that are part of their language so we’re using noises instead. It’s not a fancy language, but it’s enough to get them to understand I want to go home. And that we’re friendly. That we didn’t know they weren’t ‘prey’ as the kits call anything besides their own species.  
  
I’ve been translating their names too. The little black one is Ryoma. Big black one is Kaidoh. The red one that came up to us is Eiji. Most of them have two-syllable names. Ryoma gets three because he’s their leader even though he’s one of the littlest. They decide their leader by whomever is best at the net game.  
  
Seems weird to me but old Earth used to pick its leaders for even stupider reasons so who am I to judge? They promise to bring me home tomorrow.”  
  


> **Vice Captain Oishi’s Log:** **  
> ** **  
> ** **Day 652:**

  
Momo’s returned to us! He’s currently in quarantine but he’s alive and well as far as we can tell. Inui and Yanagi say that eating the local animals has filled his gut with bacteria and they need to flush it out. Also something about worm infections from eating uncooked meat?  
  
Ibi’s been muttering to himself about hookworms and tapeworms and being wormfood even before he dies. Everyone’s trying not to listen.  
  
Momo says that they’re a sentient species which means that we should leave the planet after making amends. He says they’ve developed a temporary language between themselves and Momo, which he’s now taught us. It’s very hard on the throat and sounds a little like coughing but it's better than not being able to communicate at all.  
  
The forcefield is down since they're friendly. If they'd been unfriendly, they could have killed Momo at any time. The felines are coming in and out of our campsite. Inui and Yanagi seem to be competing to see who can run the most tests on them. So far they've taken hair samples, blood samples and even urine and fecal samples.  
  
Momo had a lot of trouble explaining to them how that was supposed to work.  
  
Eiji, the red cat that came by our camp earlier, seems to be particulately friendly. He's always around me. He likes being scratched behind his ears and if I sit down and put both hands on either side of his spine and rub down, he makes this rumbling sound that vibrates through his whole body. Apparently it's a sign of happiness.  
  


> **Bioscientist Sadaharo Inui's Log:**
> 
> **Day 656:**

 

The discoveries I have been making are incredible! The felines of this planet are sentient with a rich culture and history. They do not rely on fire and do not smelt things but instead create complex bio-chemical reactions in planets and dirt. They know certain combinations of leaves wrapped around mud will cause the mud to harden into a compound nearly as strong as steel and they have the ability to bioengineer other species to serve them. Rather than heading for mechanical technology as our species did, the felines have specialized in bioengineering.  
  
I have been speaking with one of their scientists and the information we have been exchanging is unbelievable. They had very little interest in taking to the skies, as pleased as they were with their own planet, but evinced great curiosity as to their little cousins from our planet.  
  
I thought it best not to inform them that our kind kept their kind as pets.  
  
Momo, of course, was absolutely full of parasites after his stay with them but he has at least proven that the meat and plants of this planet that the felines eat can be safely consumed by us as well. I would advise cooking them first though, if it should ever come to that.

 

> **Security Chief Momoshiro's Log:**
> 
> **Day 658:**

 

Finally out of quarantine. It's been boring getting better but my system's all clean now. Inui says that it's a good thing that they brought me back when they did because otherwise, I would've fallen sick very soon from all the parasites that my system didn't know how to handle.  
  
Kaidoh wanted to keep me company but wasn't allowed in case some strange hybrid disease got created by the interaction of my immune system and this planet's parasites. It's funny. We argue a lot and he still hasn't given me a good reason for why he kidnapped me. All he says is that "you smelled right".  
  
Oishi and Eiji are getting on really well. Kaidoh looks smug when he sees them together. Don't ask me how I know Kaidoh looks smug. I just do.  
 

> **Security Chief Momo's Log:**  
>    
>  **Day 662:  
>  **

  
Eiji keeps dancing for Oishi and Oishi just watches. I don't think he understands what it means. I might not either if I hadn't seen it in their camp, how the dance was usually followed by mating.  
  
Should I tell Oishi? I might be wrong. But it'd be funny to see his face when he understands that Eiji's trying to court him.  
  


> **Day 663:**

**  
** Told Oishi. Never seen him turn so red. Or so pale. Told Kaidoh about how funny it was and Kaidoh got into another fight with me. Ended with him cuffing me with his paw - claws in, closer to a punch than anything else - and stalking off with his tail twitching behind him. **  
** **  
** Don't see why he's so mad. It's not as if he were the one courting Oishi. **  
  
**

> **Vice Captain Oishi's Log:** **  
> ** **  
> ** **Day 663:**

**  
** Momo claims that Eiji keeps bringing me dead animals and jumping around in those somersaults because he's trying to court me. I thought he was playing a prank on me at first and didn't believe him but...  
  
None of the others have been receiving gifts like I have. And Eiji is the only feline who jumps and twists in the air like that.  
  
I should ask him about this. Interspecies relationships are dangerous at the best of times and when we know so little about their species, it's utterly out of the question. Everyone knows about the risks of unplanned pregnancies, babies that consume their parents, and -- that's even assuming they're physically compatible. I don't even know how felines mate and I _cannot_ ask Inui about it.  
  
Maybe I can look it up myself-- no. No, there is no need to. It will never be relevant. Eiji is a four-legged carnivorous alien. It would be a breach of protocol and operational standards to be involved in any form of romance with him.  
  


> **Day 664:**

  
I asked Eiji if what Momo said was true. He confirmed it.  
  


> **Security Chief Momo's Log:**
> 
> **Day 670:** **  
> **

  
Kaidoh finally came back. He sulked for a week. We fought about him staying away like that almost as soon as he got back and it felt like nothing had changed.  
  
Good.  
  
I told him he was right though. That I shouldn't have told Vice Captain Oishi about Eiji. He said that wasn't why he had stalked off. He was angry that I had laughed at the idea of their relationship. He wanted to know if I really thought it was so impossible for one of them to be with one of us.  
  
We got in this huge fight about it. I kept pointing out that we're only here temporarily, that we hardly know each other's cultures, that we don't even know if their species mates for life or what mating entails or what happens afterwards. He kept saying that we could learn and then I got pissed and asked why do we have to do it their way, why can't they do it our way. And then he wanted to know what our way was.  
  
Somehow that turned into us watching really terrible romcoms on the ship's holo-projector.  
  


> **Day 671:** **  
> **

  
I woke up and Kaidoh was dumping flowers on me. The stems were all jagged and his snout was covered in pollen and sap. When he saw I was awake, he licked my face.

Now I understand why he was so pissed. Shit.  
  


> **Vice Captain Oishi’s Log:**
> 
> **Day 672:**

  
The language that Momo made up isn't good enough for talking about complicated subjects. Eiji tried to explain to me last night how their kind mate. The physical was easy enough to understand. It's the rest of it that's hard - how do they raise children, how long do they stay together, are the monogamous, what happens if one partner dies.  
  
The felines believe in something called being in sync, if I am translating it properly. It lets two of their species mentally link together so they can share memories and thoughts, if I'm understanding correctly.  
  
Eiji says we can do it. That he knows we can because of my smell. That I smell like him.  
  
I don't understand that. I smell like a human. He smells like a feline. It's not an unpleasant smell but it's not the same as mine.  
  
Their species has a more highly-developed sense of smell than ours does, though. Maybe there's some sort of undertone that I'm missing but he knows.  
  
And if there is, if it's true that we can sync up, what should I do about it? It would change everything if we could speak mind to mind instead of in the clumsy language that Momo invented.  
  
...No. That's not it. Inui might be willing to undertake such a bond for the sake of science but I'm not him. I'm not thinking about it for the sake of interspecies understanding. I just want to.  
  
We keep talking about it. We've been talking about it for over a week.  
  
The more we talk about it, the more I want to sync with him.  
  


> **Bioscientist Sadaharo Inui's Log:**
> 
> **Day 679:  
>  **

 

The feline species has genitals very close to those of old Earth felines. Momo was unwilling to go into much detail about the mating practice. Mostly he cursed me and demanded more painkiller. He tried to swear me to secrecy but of course I have to report this to the captain and vice captain.  
  
I saved as much of the semen as possible and separated out Momo's blood. The internal tearing that Momo suffered is painful but not severe. I estimate that he should be back to normal by tomorrow but have put him on a liquid diet for three days just in case. His partner kept licking him guiltily but that tongue only irritated the skin and drew up a red, stubbly rash.  
  
I explained to them both that they were foolish to have not spoken to me first before consummating their relationship but I think Momo was in too much pain to listen and Kaidoh was too concerned about Momo to take it in. Nevertheless, I did my best to impress upon them that allowing the feline partner to penetrate the human partner is a terrible idea. Perhaps we could create some sort of special condom to counteract the effects of the barbed feline penis, but in the meantime, it is safer for Momo to do the penetrating.  
  
The amount of dried saliva on Momo's body was astonishing. I must remember to ask him later if pre-copulation, Kaidoh groomed him, or if being licked by Kaidoh was part of the mating process.  
  


> **Vice Captain Oishi's Log:** **  
> ** **Day 680:  
>  **

  
I have never had to punish a crewman for unauthorized sexual contact with a foreign species before. I did not think such a thing even fell under the duties of a vice captain but Captain Tezuka is not here at the moment and appointed me captain in his absence.  
  
Captain Tezuka is off exploring with Fuji, one of the felines from the planet. He has an old shoulder wound that still hurts him sometimes and Fuji nosed and sniffed at it before announcing that one of the other families specialzied in healing such injuries and he would take Captain Tezuka to them. Yanagi left with them so he could further study the medical knowledge of this planet.  
  
That left me to deal with Momo.  
  
Eiji and I had been lying together, I resting with my head and shoulders against his middle and telling him stories of my family, when Inui interrupted us. He informed me that Momo showed up draped over Kaidoh's back, bleeding from his rear as a result of sexual congress with Kaidoh and that he had treated Momo's injuries. I didn't even dare look at Eiji but I knew what he was thinking. It felt as if we had been synced right then, each of us aware of our shared guilt and longing, each of us thinking that if Kaidoh and Momo had done it, perhaps we could too.  
  
It fell to me to reprimand Momo for his foolishness and his lack of adherence to the code we had all sworn ourselves too. All the time while I scolded him, I knew Eiji was listening.  
  
I knew Eiji was waiting.  
  
And stars help me, but I understood why they'd done it and I was jealous.  
  
The vice captain has to set a good example. The vice captain cannot be seen to break the rules of the Federation.  
  
Should I be less honest in this log? Curtail more information? It is supposed to be private, read only in case of my inexplicable death or disappearance. It would do nothing good for my career should people know I even considered a xenophiliac relationship and yet...  
  
Could we take them with us to the skies? There is a point at which, when they have been properly studied and declared safe, relationships with them would not be taboo. If I wait, if Eiji waits, if Eiji comes with us...  
  
I can't ask him to leave his family.  
  
Mine might be dead by the time I return.  
  
I cannot abandon my crew.  
  
I cannot leave Eiji.  
  
He's licking the back of my neck and the hot, damp rasp of his tongue flattens the soft hairs there. It feels so good - I cannot continue with this log. Not tonight.  
  


> **Bioscientist Sadaharu Inui's log:**
> 
> **Day 694:**

  
The vice captain reported to the infirmary with a stubbly red rash over his genitals and crotch. It extended along the crack of his buttocks and over his back. The skin was raised in small bumps and sensitive to the touch.  
  
Had it not been for Momo and Kaidoh, I would have been most concerned about this seeming sign of illness. As it was, I identified it immediately, told the vice captain that is what happens when you allow the felines to lick you and passed him a topical antibiotic cream with soothing properties.  
  
Momo and Kaidoh's relationship triggered a chain reaction. Oishi and Eiji have entered a similar relationship. I would have been sure of that even if the vice captain hadn't found it necessary to seek my help.  
  
I am certain that Captain Tezuka and Fuji are proceeding along similar lines, especially as Fuji struck away his would-be suitor, Mizuki. The psychologist remains with us and has appeared to take out his disappointment in losing Fuji by seducing Fuji's younger brother. At least that is one feline-human pairing where I will not need to chastise the human for allowing himself to be hurt. Mizuki has many failings but he also has a healthy regard for his own skin.  
  
We were supposed to discover a new planet, fit for human habitation.  
  
Instead we have discovered a new sentient species, fit for human relationships.  
  
If Kirihara would just stop knocking over my beakers on purpose, I'd call this expedition a success.


End file.
